


never gonna leave this bed

by patriciaselina



Category: Exit Tunes Presents ACTORS (Album)
Genre: Dreams and Nightmares, Eventual Romance, Fluff, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Sleeping arrangements, Sleeptalking, Sleepy Cuddles, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 19:48:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5941003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patriciaselina/pseuds/patriciaselina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Uh, wait, so <i>not</i> a dream, then...?"</p><p>"You have dreams about kissing me?"</p><p>"I have dreams about you, <i>period</i>," Takato says, feeling his cheeks going warm in response. Oh god, of all the confessions he could ever think of making in all the places in the world, this was not one of them. "If that sounds better at all."</p><p>"It really doesn't."</p>
            </blockquote>





	never gonna leave this bed

**Author's Note:**

> Like we all know, I write my most sappy fics under the influence of stress that would have normally wrecked a person. This is pure sugar sweet sap. I hope you like it anyway.
> 
> Cast list: [Ushio Azabu](http://actorsmusic.jp/character/chara_19.html), [Takato Kiyosu](http://actorsmusic.jp/character/chara_09.html), [Ryuunosuke Hanakuma](http://actorsmusic.jp/character/chara_10.html), [Rei Ichijoudani](http://actorsmusic.jp/character/chara_13.html).
> 
> Also, I was doodling this earlier, so [here's the gist of how they looked like halfway in](https://mobile.twitter.com/postscriptress/status/696240741958291456/photo/1#), (L-R) Rei, Takato, Ryuunosuke and Ushio.

 

_so fall down,_

_i need you to trust me_

_go easy,_

_don’t rush me_

* * *

 

If he asks nicely, Ushio thinks that Chouno- _sensei_ would probably not object to him setting up his futon in the teachers’ quarters for the night.

Last night he saw the three teachers drinking _sake_ until the wee hours of the morning though, so maybe – no, no, Ushio rebukes himself, surely that was a one-time thing, _surely_ the teachers would be responsible if a student calls for their aid? Surely, if he asks nicely, they won’t leave him unattended?

It is way too early for anyone to be thinking of these things, but Ushio thinks them anyway – just as well, since right now he’s trying very hard not to look at the sight unfolding before him. Even while looking straight ahead as he is right now, Ushio can still remember how the blankets bunched around and hiked up over the hem of a yellow _yukata_ , showing a single bare leg, wrapped around and _over_ –

“Don’t freak out now, Ushio-kun,” Hanakuma says, nudging Ushio with his shoulder, his face looking like he’s holding back a burst of laughter. “You’ll wake them up.”

Ushio feels faint.

* * *

 

It was the night after their field trip out west. Everyone shared rooms according to who they went out with during the day, which means that the teachers disappeared to their quarters (for _sake_ , no doubt), Iimori sighed and sighed as Nanao planned out a pillow fight with Mitsutsuka, Kadonoooji had to herd a DS-playing Marume into their room, and as for Takato...

Ushio blinks. “Are you really planning on sleeping next to each other?”

“Well, but of course, Ushio-chan!” Takato says, puffing his chest out like he always does when puts his hands on his hips like this. Makes him look manlier or whatever (even if he knows Ryuunosuke keeps rolling his eyes whenever he does it). “It’s like, law by now! Friends who go share these rooms together gotta stick together! Come and join us!!”

Ushio’s already looking kinda panicked thinking about this – _the heck, bro_ , Takato thinks, then again he was screaming murder when Takato attempted princess-carrying him earlier. He’s totally the old-fashioned conservative kinda guy. How cute.

“He’s lying,” Ryuunosuke, the _traitor_ , says, smiling wanly. “There’s no such law. It’s just that in my case, Takato often cries in his sleep when he gets a bad dream and doesn’t have anyone to hold on to –”

“ _Hey_.”

“– and because he might wake up the entire inn otherwise, I have to offer myself up for sacrifice.” Ryuunosuke tuts, shaking his head. “Tough job, but someone has to do it. But yes. Of course you can set up your _futon_ as near or far from us as you wish, Ushio-kun.”

“Just like what Ichijoudani-san is doing?” Ushio asks.

“Rei is a fucking killjoy,” Takato says, pouting, because it was the first thing that came to mind and is also very much true.

“Kiyosu, _language_.” Rei seethes, narrowing eyes at Takato from where he’s been setting up for the night – almost at the very furthest corner of the room, a good five strides away from the hem of Takato and Ryuunosuke’s _futon_ s.

There’s a set to Rei’s hand that says he would throw the pillow he’s holding at Takato’s head if he could, but he won’t, and Takato really wishes he just would – what’s a sleepover without a good pillow fight, though, _seriously_.

“Yes, exactly, Ushio-kun,” Ryuunosuke says, as if Takato had not spoken at all. ( _Rude_.) “If you want to occupy the other corner as well, that’s all right, of course.”

Ushio looks at the other corner, peruses the open window beside it, and frowns a bit, holding his _yukata_ to himself. “...maybe I’ll go a bit closer to the middle for now.”

“Aww _yeah_.” Takato says, doing a little whoop.

Rei frowns at him. “It’s _evening_. People are _asleep_. Keep your voice down.”

“ _Rei-san_ , shuddup.”

“Ignore them.” Ryuunosuke deadpans, handing Ushio another blanket.

Ushio has the whole deer-in-the-headlights shtick he seems to have every time Takato and Rei begin seething at each other like that, but he’s a quick study – he nods anyway. Frantically searching his brain for something to break the awkward tension, Ushio comes up with, “Why is Ichijoudani-kun sleeping so close to the wall, though?”

“Exactly because of what Hanakuma said,” Rei says, flatly, not breaking eye contact with Takato the entire time. “Kiyosu cries in his sleep. Bothersome thing, really. I would rather not subject myself to that.”

“ _Meanie_ ,” Takato says, whining, seemingly completely unaware of how much he sounds like a toddler being denied his security blankie. “Even though in first year you –”

“ _Kiyosu stop talking,_ ” Rei whisper-yells, finally hurling that pillow straight at Takato’s face – his cheeks are strangely pink. Not that Takato sees it, though, falling to the ground as he is right now.

“Huh.” Ryuunosuke says, picking Rei’s pillow off Takato’s face. “He’s out cold.”

“Good riddance,” Rei huffs, crouching down into his _futon_ and settling under the covers. “It’s way past that child’s bedtime. Good night, you two.”

“Good night, Rei.”

“Um...Kiyosu-kun, though.” Ushio speaks up, sounding really worried. “...is he really okay?”

“I ask myself that question every day, Ushio-kun.” Ryuunosuke deadpans.

“So do I, as a matter of fact,” Rei adds, his voice muffled by how he’d hiked the covers up to the top of his head.

“That’s...not what I mean.” Ushio says.

“Nothing a good sleep can’t fix, I’m sure,” Ryuunosuke says, pinching Takato’s cheek. Takato doesn’t even stir, only continues on snoring. “He’ll be fine. Good night, Rei, Ushio-kun.”

“Good night.”

“Until tomorrow.”

* * *

 

Hanakuma must have woken up in the middle of the night or something.

Maybe he went to use the washroom? Must have. Because there’s no other reason Rei could think of for him to leave the room, especially since Hanakuma knows as well as he does that if he leaves –

“...nn....no, stop...wa –”

– _that_ happens.

The room is only faintly lit by the moonlight streaming in from the open window, and from the bits of fluorescent light peeking in from the hallway, but even in this horrible lighting...yes, Kiyosu looks terrible. Sweat is beading on his temples, his eyebrows are furrowed close together, and he seems to be biting his lip.

_Hopefully he isn’t biting on it hard enough to draw blood, this time..._

_Wait_ , Rei thinks, catching himself, _wasn’t I already done worrying about this person?_

In any case, Kiyosu is a nuisance, but he’s _Hanakuma’s_ nuisance now, not Rei’s – not that Kiyosu ever _was_ Rei’s, though, to speak of, that makes it sound like he was property or something, but –

Rei grunts, squeezes his eyes shut, and presses both his palms to his face. Sleep. Right, sleep. He needs to go back to sleep, because he’d planned out both his sleeping time _and_ his waking time _perfectly_ , and he will not do with Kiyosu messing up his schedule.

In any case, Hanakuma would come back soon, and Kiyosu would have someone to cling on to and finally stop crying. Hanakuma said it himself, after all – he’s the sacrifice. _He’s_ the one who has to bundle that sobbing child in his arms and murmur comforting noises, and Rei should _not_ be up awake of thinking how _easy_ it could be for him to just stand up and, just like last time –

 _No no no **stop**_. Hanakuma will come back. _He will come back_. Rei should just _fall asleep_ and stop _thinking_.

But – but what if he doesn’t come back? What if everyone else _but_ him and Kiyosu and Azabu suddenly woke up and needed to use the bathroom, and the lines are going on forever? What if Hanakuma suddenly needed a midnight snack, but the vending machines don’t have the specific brand of snack he wants and the only conbini that has it is on the next block over –

Okay, so maybe Rei should seriously stop going on this train of thought, lest he end up worrying himself into next week...

_Wait. Shirou is on the trip with us too. What if they saw each other and decided to –_

Suddenly, Rei sits up and rests his head on the wall because he _seriously does not want_ to remember what he’d seen his classmate and his club member doing behind that large tree out back.

(...there was tongue. Too much of it. Kiyosu had to offer him his can of warm coffee because Rei looked so pale.)

“...ngh, no, _please_ –”

Rei’s got half a mind to throw his last pillow at Kiyosu’s head and knock him out cold again (though he _is_ secretly thankful he’d been freed of that _last_ thought he had), if only for the fact that he finally notices something he really should’ve realized from the start.

Kiyosu’s hands aren’t reaching for Hanakuma’s side of the bed at all.

Kiyosu’s hands – outstretched, searching, _pleading_ – are in fact reaching for _Rei_.

“...Hanakuma’s probably not coming back for the night, isn’t he,” Rei tells himself, fully aware that speaking it out loud does not make it any less of a lie. “He’s probably out there, he probably saw Shirou, and they – no _stop thinking about that!_ – ehrm, anyway, he’s probably not returning.”

“And this one here just looks so pitiful,” Rei says, speaking over the warmth of his cheeks and the beat of his heart, as he stands up and nudges his _futon_ closer – across the entire five strides he’d diligently measured away from Kiyosu’s _futon_ earlier.

“I’m just going to shut him up,” Rei whispers, settling back under the covers, Kiyosu’s tearful sleepy face just a breath away, and he reaches up to wipe the tears from his cheeks –

Not that his hand goes that far, though – not when Kiyosu’s arms, finally catching hold of something, reach out and pull Rei close. His arms are tight over Rei’s shoulders, and he’s finally stopped sobbing like a lost child – instead he’s humming a rather pleased hum to himself, his breath warm and very close to Rei’s cheek.

“Mmhm...”

“Finally, silence,” Rei says, squeezing his eyes shut, but his voice doesn’t sound as displeased as he thinks it should be. Must be because he’s keeping his voice down. Yes. Definitely.

“...you came back...nn... _Rei_.”

Rei’s heart catches in his chest as his eyes fly open. _Wait a second is he actually awake –???_

“...”

“...”

No, definitely still sleeping. Kiyosu’s eyes are still shut, but compared from earlier, well. His eyebrows are relaxed, no furrows in between or anything, and his lips are quirked up into a smile – not the usual one he keeps pulling when he’s awake, the one that Kiyosu keeps insisting makes him look like the “ _hottest dude alive_ ” – but, well...

Rei could almost dare to call him beautiful right now.

If only in his head.

But.

 _Still_.

“I should really seriously go to sleep,” Rei says, closing his eyes to do just that.

The last thing Rei remembers before the world turns black is his fingers closing onto...something, and clutching it tight.

* * *

 

The first thing that comes to Rei’s mind when he wakes up is that he hasn’t slept that soundly in ages.

The second thing is that he’s only now realized that Kiyosu had somehow wrapped his leg around Rei’s waist.

“Troublesome bugger,” Rei seethes, trying to make sense of where his body parts are in the middle of this tangle. His left arm is wedged in between their torsos, left from when he was about to reach for those gross and drying tearstains, and his right hand – oh, so that was Kiyosu’s sleeve, huh.

Kiyosu’s leg is there, right on top of their blankets, somehow free of its _yukata_ , and Rei _knows_ he sleeps like a log but did the chill seriously not get to him?

“Oi,” Rei says, softly, hyperaware of the fact that Kiyosu’s face is so close to his. Tearstains and hubris aside, it’s not really a bad face. Especially with the way his features are relaxed in sleep and how the sunlight hits his hair and _okay Rei now is not the time for this, you’re both going to miss breakfast_.

Speaking of which, where are Hanakuma and Azabu, anyway?

“Wake up.”

“Nnh?” Blue eyes blearily go half-open, and Rei goes about planning the things he shall do once freed upon this man’s blasted arms (if only to distract himself from thinking that well, those eyes aren’t really bad at all, like the face in general); plans set to a halt when Kiyosu suddenly says, “Good mornin’...”

“Good morning,” Rei says in reply, because that was a greeting and Rei is nothing if not polite. But because Rei is also supposed to be sticking to his morning routine and eagerly wants to partake in breakfast, he also says “Let go of me.”

“‘Kay,” Kiyosu says, his sleepy eyes warm as he smiles at Rei, his grip on Rei’s shoulders going looser and looser, and Rei's about to sigh in relief, get about doing his morning rituals, if it wasn't for -

"--!!"

...if it wasn't for Kiyosu grabbing him by the shoulders and sleepily, _determinedly_ , pressing a kiss right on Rei's mouth.

Kiyosu's eyes are still half-lidded and hazy when he breaks off the kiss, and Rei watches, unblinking, as he smiles fondly, tucks a lock of hair behind Rei's ear, as if about to say something -

\- only for his head to fall back and his breathing to even out into snoring, once more.

Rei wills himself to calm down. To recoup. Count to ten. Calm down. Not do anything stupid.

He gets to three until he does something stupid anyway.

* * *

 

 

"Takato, there's a really red handprint on your cheek," Ryuunosuke says, totally suspicious of the " _life is goddamned awesome_ " grin on Takato's stupid face. "Is there anything you'd want to share with the class?"

"Fuck yeah," Takato says, his smile so bright that Ryuunosuke seriously regrets bringing sunglasses, "I had the most _amazing_ dream."

Rei, who was actually on the way to acquire more tea from the other side of the room, ends up smacking Takato on the back on the head.

Ryuunosuke laughs.

( _Traitor_.)

* * *

**  
**

"Kiyosu."

"Ou, Rei," Takato says, looking away from the vending machine he had been staring at for a good ten minutes. (It ate his change. What the fuck, vending machine, why this.) "'Sup?"

Rei's cheeks look red, for some reason. What happened? Did a vending machine eat his change too? Did he run into a nasty ol' dust bunny on the way here?

"That's not how you do it," Rei says.

"Huh? Do _what_?" Rei tends to tell him this a lot, after all. About a bunch of stuff. Homework, swimming, heck, even necktie-knotting. Takato could do with a clarification, thank you.

Rei's hands are balled up into fists at his sides, as if he really just wants to punch something, and when his next words come they do so all at once: "You don't just kiss someone good morning and _go back to sleep_."

"Uh, wait, so _not_ a dream, then...?"

"You have dreams about kissing me?"

"I have dreams about you, _period_ ," Takato says, feeling his cheeks going warm in response. Oh god, of all the confessions he could ever think of making in all the places in the world, this was not one of them. "If that sounds better at all."

"It really doesn't," Rei says, flatly, like he usually does as he walks away, but now he's taking a step forward, two steps, three. "Because if that's the case you should have known better."

"'Better' as in...what?" Takato says, swallowing hard because _oh god have mercy Rei is just too fucking close -_

"As in _this_ ," Rei says, pushing Takato's head down until their lips meet.

It's both nothing and everything like the things Takato had ever dreamed of. Well, for one, the object of his affections is here, is warm, has his hands in Takato's hair and is kissing him back.

But on the other hand, just like in his dreams, Takato's heart keeps doing the routines that those synchronized swimmers in Hozumi's Olympic vids keep doing.

" _That's_ how you kiss someone good morning," Rei says, his tone of voice somehow even, as if he wasn't now out of breath like Takato is. How did he do that. "Do you understand now?"

"Yeah," Takato says, grinning like the cat who just caught the canary, "Lemme just run it by you again. Yanno. To see if I get it right this time."

"Take all the time you need." Rei says, a lazy grin spreading slowly across his face as Takato leans down to meet his gaze once more.

* * *

 

**OMAKE!**

 

"Wait, that's Takato-san and...Rei-san? Aw, damn, Ryuunosuke-san, they beat us to it!"

"Don't worry, Shirou-kun," Ryuunosuke says, pressing a kiss to Shirou's hair. "We'll just have to make use of every other space that isn't this one."

**Author's Note:**

> OKAY HI THERE so I have literally NO excuses for this little ball of fluff it kinda just snowballed and before I could catch it it became fic so um yeah here you go
> 
> If you’ve been seeing me ramble about this idea on twitter (I’m @postscriptress!!!) you might have noticed that this was supposed to be titled after Crystal Kay’s “ _Konna ni chikaku de..._ (This close...)” but I ended up titling it the way I did because, well, I remembered this song as I was about to post it and was shocked at how I’d intentionally made this fic fit this song’s lyrics. (Obvious by now, but it’s Maroon 5, “Never Gonna Leave This Bed”, and oh god [WHY DID THE LYRICS MATCH UP EXACTLY](www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/maroon5/nevergonnaleavethisbed.html))
> 
> There’s _actually_ supposed to be deeper meaning behind this, context-wise – Rei and Takato used to be _nanpa_ buddies in first year, but Rei kinda fell out of touch with their shared hobby along the way and they kinda stopped hanging out as much as they did before?
> 
> Now I know that Takato acts like a spoiled child in the way he keeps clamoring for people’s attention most of the time but here I had his emotions run deeper than plain whining – here he actually does seek out his old friend, badly enough for him to start reaching for him in dreams.
> 
> And, well, I ship them romantically, so yeah, it turns into smooching. I am horribly, _horribly_ , predictable.
> 
> Tl;dr: there is prolly an AU where this is a thinky piece about deep-rooted TakaRei feels but I am stressed and needed smooches
> 
> Thanks for reading!!!!


End file.
